Friday, September 4, 2009

One of the influential person in my quest for the negrense arnis system is GM Jose Aguilar. Through his teachings I have learned that there is a part in central Negros Occidental that the development of arnis has gone beyond the basics of espada y daga or metodo as the old practitioners of the art would call it. Through GM Aguilar I learned that the arnis/baston system of old was mainly the espada y daga system. In the hinterlands of Central Negros especially in Murcia, Ma-ao and Bago, there is a system that developed known as Oido de caburata. According to GM Aguilar, this system was developed in response to the espada y daga. It is somewhat synonymous to the defense against the basic methods of espada y daga. The evolution of oido was enhanced when people tried to find the answer to espada y daga. There are practitioners of espada y daga that maintained that even though they are experts in the metodo they still could be hit. The only difference is that one has to produce more hits that his opponent in order to win an exhibition match or sometimes a duel. So practitioners of the art sought a method to counter what they have previously learned. It took a man like the late GM Tonying Tolosa the initiative to developed a system that could counter the prevailing system in arnis which was the methodo. According to GM Aguilar, who is the first student of the late GM Tolosa, GM Tolosa devoted himself in trying to counter the metodo system.